Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - After a month of turmoil, the Buffalo School Board officially swore in a new member Wednesday with Roscoe Henderson appointed to represent the North District.
Now what?
"We need to really sit down and see how we're going to tackle the issues at stake right now," Board Member Erik Bohen told WBEN on Thursday. "We need to be more transparent all the way, so us as a board can regain the public's trust and the trust of the parents in this district."
What remains to be seen is if the board will have new oversight whenever they take those next steps.
Earlier this week, Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan wrote a letter to the State Education Commissioner, asking her to intervene and stop the board from appointing a new member. Had that happened, the authority would fall to the Mayor to personally select someone to fill the vacancy.
Bohen told WBEN he does not see it as a power play by the Mayor.
"I have not spoken to Mayor Ryan regarding anything on the School Board," Bohen said. "If Mayor Ryan wanted his person, I'm sure he would have been jockeying and calling the School Board members to get his pick in, but I have not heard a thing from Mayor Ryan regarding who he wants or what he wants to do."
Bohen was one of three board members who abstained from the vote to appoint Henderson because of the Education Commissioner's request, not mandate, that they pause.
"If Mayor Ryan wanted his person, I'm sure he would have been jockeying and calling the School Board members to get his pick in"
"If Mayor Ryan wanted his person, I'm sure he would have been jockeying and calling the School Board members to get his pick in"
